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Misericordia No Match for No. 15 Messiah

from press release

GRANTHAM, Pa. — Messiah honored its four
senior members prior to the start of Saturday’s MAC clash
with Misericordia University.

Aside from that, there wasn’t much that was pretty.

A persistent rain, stiff winds and temperatures hovering in the 40s
made conditions horrid for doing anything outside, and the play
between the MAC-leading Falcons and the MAC-basement Cougars
wasn’t much better: Messiah outshot the visitors by a 41-3
disparity and rolled to its seventh straight win, 21-1.

“It was great to honor our seniors on our final home Saturday
(regular-)season game, but all in all it was an ugly game,”
said Joanna Dennsteadt, Messiah assistant coach. “We’re
pleased to get a conference win, but we realize that we have to
keep improving.”

Messiah — ranked 15th in the latest IWLCA Top 20 Poll —
would certainly have liked to have a moment back from early in the
contest, when Misericordia’s Kate Pagnotta made a nice dodge
down the center of the field and scored what would be the
Cougars’ lone goal with 23:16 remaining in the first
half.

Pagnotta sliced through the Falcons’ defense and put a low
bouncer past sophomore goalie Taylor Phillips — an instant
that prevented the hosts from recording a program-record four
shutouts this year.

Still, it wasn’t as if Pagnotta’s strike made things
remotely interesting. Goals from junior Rachel Coyle, freshman
Lizzy Keeney and sophomore Gabrielle Hamerlyck had already plated
Messiah (11-1, 8-0) lead by that point, and things would only get
more lopsided from there: Despite losing four of the game’s
first five draw controls, the Falcons repeatedly got the ball back
thanks to 26 Cougars’ turnovers — 14 of which caused by
Messiah actions.

Keeney tacked on her second score of the day less than four minutes
following Pagnotta’s score, while freshman Kayla Given
knocked in an unassisted tally just moments later.

It was then that senior Kara Geiman erupted, scoring the first of
her season-high five at the 18:47 mark. She added three straight
from the 7:29 mark to the 5:10 mark in the first half, helping the
Falcons take a 13-1 lead at the intermission.

And while Messiah was more patient offensively in the final period,
it was just as dangerous. Geiman highlighted an eight-goal second
half, scoring the game’s final tally with just three seconds
remaining on the game clock.

Geiman’s five goals and three assists capped a monstrous,
eight-point day, while Keeney (three goals), Coyle (three) and
junior Meghan Doolittle (three goals) flanked her. Junior Jaime
Gerhart scored twice and equaled Geiman’s three assists,
while freshman Samantha Kochey scored her first collegiate goal
with just 59 seconds remaining in the first half.

Coyle forced a season-high seven turnovers in the win, helping
illustrate Messiah’s dominance in the midfield. The Falcons
were a perfect eight for eight on clears, limiting Misericordia to
just a five for 17 performance.

Geiman, Megan Bovenzi, Elizabeth Graham and Andrea Thomas were all
honored with a brief ceremony before the start of the game, as the
foursome was greeted with flowers and escorted by their parents
through the driving rain. Bovenzi sadly did not play due to an
injury suffered in Thursday’s 11-9 win at Elizabethtown
College — Messiah also held out usual starters Rachel Dirksen
(junior) and Maddie Comfort (sophomore) as well.

The Falcons will return to action Tuesday afternoon when they
travel to Eastern University. Game time is set for 4 p.m.